Axe FX too overkill for bedroom only playing?

is there any other option? Is there a powered monitor that looks like a cabinet? where I can put a rack or FM3 on top of it?

I'd rather have the traditional look of an amp as much as possible. How come the Katana and Catalyst have a 0.5w built attenuator in them, but most power cabinets out there do not have attenuators.

When you can't try anything, is almost impossible to decide to what to get or what to pair. I read countless of posts on reddit and here of people being disappointed in Axe Fx or that they end up hating it for all the money they spent, they thought it would sound a lot better and it didnt.
There are a few options that look like cabs like Friedman but none of them are cheap. Not sure why you would need an attenuator when you can just use the output level knob on the Axefx...it's really not needed. As far as people hating the Fractal IDK what to tell ya other than you have to learn how to use it. However I doubt there is a guitar tone you can't get with it if you know what you are doing. There is a 15 day return policy I think.
 
is there any other option? Is there a powered monitor that looks like a cabinet? where I can put a rack or FM3 on top of it?

I'd rather have the traditional look of an amp as much as possible. How come the Katana and Catalyst have a 0.5w built attenuator in them, but most power cabinets out there do not have attenuators.

When you can't try anything, is almost impossible to decide to what to get or what to pair. I read countless of posts on reddit and here of people being disappointed in Axe Fx or that they end up hating it for all the money they spent, they thought it would sound a lot better and it didnt

Dude...when you use the Katana as a traditional amp, the 0.5W attenuator is useful. Otherwise, as I've repeatedly said, studio monitors and FRFR solutions don't need anything like that. Never have. Never will.

Fractal has a 15 day return policy. Plenty of time to try it. And also, the people who generally are "hating it" are the ones who didn't realize that Fractals aren't plug and play, and also didn't invest any time into learning the unit and how to get good tones out of it. Let me say that again. Fractals ARE NOT plug and play. You WILL have to invest some time into learning the unit and how to get the tone that's in your head.

If you are impatient with the Fractal, you will hate it. If that sounds like you, yes, you will be dissatisfied.
 
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Been a bedroom player for over 30 years... I've been a Fractalite for 9 of those years. Always with the Flagship of models. Not one regret.
 
Once again: master volume knob/output is what will control your volume. I can make a 120w head sound great at conversation levels with a 412 cab.

This “will it sound good at low volume” is pretty much irrelevant because of the fletcher-munson curve. Will the axefx 3, regardless of output device, sound great at low volume?

Yes!

And it will only sound better from there.
 
I'm struggling with what the OP means by the term "overkill."

Too expensive?
That’s a relative term. And it's portable enough that if you can buy it for any "big" reason like playing live or recording, then you can also carry it home because it's relatively small, after all.

Too feature-rich?
Nobody is forcing anybody to place every kind of block on the grid and use it and all advance parameters. Input -> amp -> cab (if you're using FRFR) -> output. One cable in for guitar, one cable out for mono output, or two cables out for stereo. Maybe tweak the basic amp gain/TMB/volume settings. Done.


Personally I think the Axe-Fx is without exception the absolute best sounding "low volume" guitar device ever made at any price. I also don't believe that other people are more deserving of hearing your best tones than you are so it doesn't make sense to limit yourself because of some vague notion of being undeserving of using "the good stuff" at home.

As for what actually is overkill, I can see something like a Plexi being overkill for bedroom use as Plexi rigs are generally physically large, heavy, and require an extremely loud "minimum volume" to function. The Axe-Fx has none of those problems.


I suppose it would be more useful to flip the question around. How could the Axe-Fx possibly be considered overkill for bedroom playing? It's small, light, and has an infinitely quiet "minimum volume" required to sound good.
 
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Fractal has a 30 day return policy. Plenty of time to try it. And also, the people who generally are "hating it" are the ones who didn't realize that Fractals aren't plug and play, and also didn't invest any time into learning the unit and how to get good tones out of it. Let me say that again. Fractals ARE NOT plug and play. You WILL have to invest some time into learning the unit and how to get the tone that's in your head.

If you are impatient with the Fractal, you will hate it. If that sounds like you, yes, you will be dissatisfied.
Return period is 15 days. Which means you're on a much tighter time window to do the above.
 
Hi Balamuthia, welcome to the forum. I'll have to read back everything that's been said, so this may be superfluous.

1. Any of the Fractal lineup will be able to sound good at a low volume.
2. Traditional guitar amp feel is different and requires volume. However, there are easy to access and understand parameters that help with that.
3. It is not required to go through a FRFR system or monitors, it's just an option.
4. You could get a small power amp and traditional guitar cab for when you want to be portable that will give you the look you are after.
5. If you wish to record, simply connect your Fractal product to the computer via USB and monitor through the Fractal headphone jack; alternatively you could split the route and monitor through your power amp and cab (should you go that route).
6. Attenuation is not necessary because within the Axe, you can set the level internally. I run a Matrix power amp into 2 EVM12L loaded 1x12s fully cranked and use the Level Output knob on the Axe to control the overall volume.
7. This may be semantics, but should you go a power amp route or an FRFR route, the "volume" knob, is actually an attenuation control in a lot of cases. So, you would still technically get attenuation of sorts. More technically capable members will be able to continue this point further.
8. Fractal is an investment, but what you get in return is top of the line amp models, effects, and free updates.
9. If you were to spend that $300 on a Katana, you may need to replace it, due to the cost effective build quality. That adds up.
10. My older Axe FX Ultra is over ten years old and works fine. It was purchased for a little over $2000. I have never had an issue with it. When I think of how the initial cost has spread out over that time, with no issues, it was well worth it. I now have a III and am confident I will have a similar experience. Peace of mind goes a long way.
11. FRFRs can be loud. But you control the volume. If it is too loud, you have multiple ways of lowering the volume, whether it is internally in the Fractal, or using the volume knobs on your monitoring device. This will only affect the tone because of the Fletcher Munson effect, unlike a master volume on a tube amp.

So, you really can't go wrong with a Fractal unit of any kind, for your noted purposes. Is it overkill? I would have to agree with many of my fellow forum members and say no.
 
What kind of music do you play? I haven't seen that mentioned.
Whether you like it at low volumes will depend on what you run it through, and how you dial in your presets for what you're running it through.

I just spent a couple days chasing what I thought was some type of digital clipping that I heard on just about any preset with any amount of drive. First I thought it was my headphones, but they reproduced recorded music very clearly, and I heard the same thing through my guitar cabs. And, I also heard it through my Dual Rec through those same cabs.

Result: you have to tweak your presets, or I needed to, to sound right in headphones. I found a Leon Todd video that helped. My conclusion is it's a "fizziness" that many new users complain they hear (do a search), that is simply a characteristic of how tube amps, real and modeled (if they're modeled well) create a guitar tone, that will be extra-noticeable at low volumes, unless you dial it out.

Then I turned to using that preset through my Mesa 20/20/Recto cabs, and it didn't sound nearly as good. But I did something I don't normally do, and turned off the Power Amp modeling and the Cab sim, and it sounded amazing, but only when I got some real volume pumping through it, and lessened the tweaks I had made for using headphones.

But it still didn't sound just like my real amp. For that, you'd most likely need FRFR, or what @Justincase has said about using the Celestion speakers, a few posts back. And to get that "real amp" look that you mentioned, maybe you'd need to mount 2 of those speakers in a vertical 2x12 cab, like some guys here have posted doing, with great results. But I don't think even that's going to sound great, without some volume! (What tube guitar amp does?)

Point is, I believe you need to tailor your presets to your specific listening situation, and certain types of guitar tones may take more effort. My lush clean tones sounded great with very little adjustments. High gain took more.

This is all my own thoughts, YMMV, and all that jazz.
 
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Hi Balamuthia, welcome to the forum. I'll have to read back everything that's been said, so this may be superfluous.

1. Any of the Fractal lineup will be able to sound good at a low volume.
2. Traditional guitar amp feel is different and requires volume. However, there are easy to access and understand parameters that help with that.
3. It is not required to go through a FRFR system or monitors, it's just an option.
4. You could get a small power amp and traditional guitar cab for when you want to be portable that will give you the look you are after.
5. If you wish to record, simply connect your Fractal product to the computer via USB and monitor through the Fractal headphone jack; alternatively you could split the route and monitor through your power amp and cab (should you go that route).
6. Attenuation is not necessary because within the Axe, you can set the level internally. I run a Matrix power amp into 2 EVM12L loaded 1x12s fully cranked and use the Level Output knob on the Axe to control the overall volume.
7. This may be semantics, but should you go a power amp route or an FRFR route, the "volume" knob, is actually an attenuation control in a lot of cases. So, you would still technically get attenuation of sorts. More technically capable members will be able to continue this point further.
8. Fractal is an investment, but what you get in return is top of the line amp models, effects, and free updates.
9. If you were to spend that $300 on a Katana, you may need to replace it, due to the cost effective build quality. That adds up.
10. My older Axe FX Ultra is over ten years old and works fine. It was purchased for a little over $2000. I have never had an issue with it. When I think of how the initial cost has spread out over that time, with no issues, it was well worth it. I now have a III and am confident I will have a similar experience. Peace of mind goes a long way.
11. FRFRs can be loud. But you control the volume. If it is too loud, you have multiple ways of lowering the volume, whether it is internally in the Fractal, or using the volume knobs on your monitoring device. This will only affect the tone because of the Fletcher Munson effect, unlike a master volume on a tube amp.

So, you really can't go wrong with a Fractal unit of any kind, for your noted purposes. Is it overkill? I would have to agree with many of my fellow forum members and say no.

I think I understand now. Since I'd rather go with a more traditional guitar look. A powercab such as Line 6 powercab or others, may just be what I need and coupled with either an FM3 or Axe Fx.

At the moment, I have no amp and only play using headphones and Neural DSP plugins. I don't want to be bound to the computer when I play though. I was considering the Katana just to have an amp, and may in the future, down the line when I have more free money, my finances are more in order and the Axe Fx 3 is more affordable. I may buy one with a power cab.
 
I think I understand now. Since I'd rather go with a more traditional guitar look. A powercab such as Line 6 powercab or others, may just be what I need and coupled with either an FM3 or Axe Fx.

At the moment, I have no amp and only play using headphones and Neural DSP plugins. I don't want to be bound to the computer when I play though. I was considering the Katana just to have an amp, and may in the future, down the line when I have more free money, my finances are more in order and the Axe Fx 3 is more affordable. I may buy one with a power cab.
Question - why are you worried about the look for playing at home?

Why are you worried about the look at all?
 
I just like the look of it.

Tell me this doesnt look nice
It looks like a rig?

When im enjoying playing guitar, at no point am I looking at my rig and thinking about it. Im playing guitar and enjoying it lol.

And i use headphones nearly all the time
 
If you love playing guitar, having every tone you could ever dream of, enjoy playing with bleeding edge guitar processor technology, and can afford it, do it. Life is short. Overkill is a subjective term.
 
Eh, everyone has their reasons for wanting certain gear (or anything for that matter), and if how it looks is an important one to you, have at it.

I'm kind of in the middle. I used to have this old Marshall 4x12 cab, with 25 watt Greenbacks, that sounded great, but looked like shit. The previous owner had replaced the mesh with some B&W tiger-striped, stupid-looking stuff, it was all beat to hell, with ripped Tolex, missing corners, no wheels, and no side handles, but I didn't care. But when I see it in pictures, damn did it look stupid!
 
Get the FM3 and put the saved $1300+ into better monitors and acoustic treatment. You’ll be glad you did. I have both and I use the FM3 for 99% of my recording because it does everything I need for recording (plenty of DSP for one amp block, 2 IRs, and a full signal chain). I use the AX3+FC12 almost exclusively for live. It’s easier to just leave it in the rack case and use the FM3 for practicing and recording.
 
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I think I understand now. Since I'd rather go with a more traditional guitar look. A powercab such as Line 6 powercab or others, may just be what I need and coupled with either an FM3 or Axe Fx.

At the moment, I have no amp and only play using headphones and Neural DSP plugins. I don't want to be bound to the computer when I play though. I was considering the Katana just to have an amp, and may in the future, down the line when I have more free money, my finances are more in order and the Axe Fx 3 is more affordable. I may buy one with a power cab.
It's a lot to take in at first, but a setup like the Axe FX or the FM3 really does simplify things in a lot of ways. You could get the Line 6 Powercab or any of the others that look more like a traditional cab. You also have a few other options that may be more cost effective yet gives you the flexibility down the road you may want.
Here are a few options:
1. Power amp and cab. This is your traditional amp route. It is a very portable setup, simple, you don't have to worry about IRs, and will give you more of the feel that you may be used to going through an amp. However, it will lack versatility since you aren't using the cab sims, but that may or may not matter when you go to jam or play a show. You could always split a signal though and have IRs going through a PA or monitor. And recording you'd want them as well. https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/44Magnum--electro-harmonix-44-magnum-44-watt-power-amp-pedal Something like this into a traditional 1x12 guitar cab.
2. Same deal with a power amp and cab, but the speaker will be different. Others have already suggested this, but the Celestion FX200 into a 1x12 cab will give you the look of a traditional setup, but with that missing versatility due to the FRFR-like response of the speaker, enabling you to use IRs. It shouldn't be terribly expensive to build a cab with the correct dimensions. Here is just an example for visual purposes:
https://www.mojotone.com/Mojotone-West-Coast-2X12-Extension-Speaker-Cabinet looking cab with this speaker
https://www.sweetwater.com/store/de...nch-200-watt-replacement-guitar-speaker-8-ohm
3. Depending on your situation, you don't need to get a FRFR, monitors, or a PA and cab. If you have headphones you like, you can start there, evaluate what your needs are, and purchase as necessary. If you are jamming in your bedroom, headphones are fine. If you go to a jam or play a show, you can plug into the PA there. If they have a cab, you just need a power amp. You have a lot of room to expand, but it doesn't mean you need to get a full rig all at once, because whichever Fractal product you get, it has everything but the external amplification. In your case, that is taken care of by headphones. You decide the pace at which you meet your gear needs.

It's kind of hard to go wrong. Your ears and your Fractal navigational skills will adjust the more time you spend with the unit, which will help inform which products are right for you. It's all good.
 
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